Skimmer stopped producing skimmate

A few weeks ago I had to empty my AquaC Remora's cup every other day. At that time my nitrate level was at 0.2 mg/l. Today, my nitrate level is undetectable with my Salifert kit and my skimmer has stopped producing skimmate.

So my queston is it normal for protein skimmers to stop producing skimmate when nitrate levels drop to undetectable levels? Should I be worried about this or be happy that my system doesn't seem to need a skimmer at this point in time, not that I'm planning on removing it?

 

don't know as ive never really ran one, well n/m i had that prizm on my 55 but that thing never stopped producing skimmate. sorry i'm no help.

 

Well, did you just put the skimmer on not too long ago? If its doing its job, and theres less crud in the water to pull out, it would produce less skimmate.

 

Skimmers been in for about a year. I just added a bunch of base rock and upgraded my lighting over the last two weeks. Added a sump and fuge several months ago. Nitrate level was at 25 over the summer. Started dropping rappidly a few months ago.

 

You have to clean it regularly. My skimmer becomes less efficient to the point of not producing if I dont clean it.

 

it's either the skimmer is not very effective and something needs to be cleaned out or it has pulled out too much beneficial nutrients from the water that it's no longer skimming.. after feedings, especially after brine shrimp, cyclopze or even phytoplankton, the skimmer should be pulling some of this in as well, so either your skimmer isn't very efficient or it's pulled out way too much for the tank's good

 

My skimmer did that. It skimmed dark, then lighter, then less.....now it trickles. I am going to adjust it here and wet skim.

 

My remora did the same thing. I took it off and cleaned it, it's skimming like new. My nitrates have been at 0 since I started running my skimmer 9 mo ago.

 

I clean the cup and the tube inside the cup each time I empty it. Any idea how to clean out the skimmer itself?

 

I took the whole thing off my tank, then I used warm water and a cloth to clean the inside---took the white screw off and cleaned the opening with the small cleaner brush that came with it. Good Luck and have fun !! LOL